The State of Ecommerce: Health & Personal Care
Q1 2026 HPC ecommerce report: Margin pressure & the discoverability gap
Health & Personal Care brands faced a tough Q1:
- ASPs fell 9-12% YoY
- Glance views dropped 7-8%
- Gross margin per unit collapsed 6-7 points
Discounts held steady, but ASPs kept falling. Get the data behind the mix shift squeezing HPC margins.
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Key takeaways
ASP compression accelerated:
Average selling prices fell 9 to 12% YoY, signaling a structural mix shift toward lower-priced SKUs rather than a promotional pull
Discount depth held steady:
Discounts averaged about 19%, in line with Q1 2025, indicating price erosion is driven by product mix instead of deeper markdowns
Discoverability gap widened:
Glance views declined 7 to 8% YoY across the quarter while conversion rates held flat, pointing to a top-of-funnel visibility problem
Gross margins compressed sharply:
Gross margin per unit dropped 6 to 7 percentage points YoY to roughly 8 to 10%, compounding with softer top-line volume
Ad spend surged with improving efficiency:
Ad spend climbed about 36% YoY, with ROAS recovering through the quarter as CPC trended down & auction efficiency improved into March
Supply chain execution strengthened:
PO fill rate improved about 7% YoY, on-hand inventory ran 22% leaner YoY & OOS revenue loss fell roughly 35% YoY as Rep OOS% tightened by about half a point
